The current pandemic is not the first social crisis Ballarat has faced. From polio to Spanish flu, the Great depression and recent recessions, two worlds wars, the real estate crash of the 1890s and the 1980s, bushfires and even the occasional flood, there have been disasters and dilemmas to overcome. Within that time, one of the constants is change. here are a series of photographs of the city, some of which you mightn't have seen, some you may be familiar with, showing how Ballarat has changed in recent decades and those further in the past. Below is the sadly-demolished Town Hall Hotel. Some of the images first appeared in The Courier. Some are from historical archives, or from schools and churches. Some might be family snaps. All of them give a window into places long gone and some still standing; some still used for their original purpose and some changed entirely from their beginnings. Beneath is Brogden's Bakery Cart. Amazingly the Bakery and home with attached store still survive, unscathed from the developer's reach, on Victoria Street. The entrance to the Block Arcade in the 1970s. The Block Arcade in a previous existence as a service station. And even earlier, as Coles &amp; Pullum Stock &amp; Station agents and O'Farrell's Saleyards The endless debate about closing and reopening Bridge Road, ongoing... And the Bridge Mall goes in, regardless it seems of some OHS with shoppers... Ballarat Grammar had what was then an outdoor pool in the 1970s. In the 1960s they had outdoor sports day and a natty line in hats and macintoshes. In the 1980s they had attitude and a rather harried-looking teacher. Her is the long-lost Morsheads department store, now Norwich Plaza, surrounded by vehicles in the early 1960s. Two Ballarat Base Hospital nursing sisters with their cares for the day, 1947. The amazing amount of building around St John of God in the 1980s, without roundabout. Remember when heroes and heroines (and nurses) wore capes? Ballarat's Big4 caravan park when it was still little. Her Majesty's when it was Royal South Street Memorial Hall. A prize for whoever can name the make and model of every car out the front (no actual prize).

Head back to old Ballarat in these pictures

The current pandemic is not the first social crisis Ballarat has faced. From polio to Spanish flu, the Great depression and recent recessions, two worlds wars, the real estate crash of the 1890s and the 1980s, bushfires and even the occasional flood, there have been disasters and dilemmas to overcome.

Demolished: Ballarat's Town Hall Hotel, then the Town House, before demolition.

Within that time, one of the constants is change. here are a series of photographs of the city, some of which you mightn't have seen, some you may be familiar with, showing how Ballarat has changed in recent decades and those further in the past. Below is the sadly-demolished Town Hall Hotel.

Happier times: The Town Hall Hotel in the 1960s, long before the realignment of Lydiard Street.

Some of the images first appeared in The Courier. Some are from historical archives, or from schools and churches. Some might be family snaps. All of them give a window into places long gone and some still standing; some still used for their original purpose and some changed entirely from their beginnings.

Beneath is Brogden's Bakery Cart. Amazingly the Bakery and home with attached store still survive, unscathed from the developer's reach, on Victoria Street.

Brogden's bakery: Horse and cart.

The entrance to the Block Arcade in the 1970s.

Block Arcade: 1970s.

The Block Arcade in a previous existence as a service station.

Block Arcade: 1930s.

And even earlier, as Coles & Pullum Stock & Station agents and O'Farrell's Saleyards

Block Arcade: O'Farrell's Saleyards

The endless debate about closing and reopening Bridge Road, ongoing...

Lots of shops: Bridge road, 1970s.

And the Bridge Mall goes in, regardless it seems of some OHS with shoppers...